Trump commits the sentence of the founder of Ozy Media Carlos Watson

President Donald Trump committed the criminal fraud of the founder of Ozy Media Carlos Watson on Friday, just a few hours before Watson started to serve a 116-month-old prison mandate in California for his several million dollars program which included an alleged start-up had agreements with Google and Oprah Winfrey.

Trump also condemned the conviction of the Ozy media for the deceased conviction of the company news and entertainment in the same case, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Watson was sentenced to trial before the Federal Court of Brooklyn last July, a conspiracy in order to commit securities fraud, a conspiracy in order to commit fraud by wire and an aggravated identity theft.

The former CEO of Ozy, 55, was sentenced in December.

In February, a federal judge ordered Ozy and Ozy to pay nearly $ 60 million in confiscation and more than $ 36 million on return.

Watson’s defense lawyer Arthur Aidala refused to comment on Friday when he was contacted by CNBC.

A spokesperson for the Brooklyn United States lawyer, who continued Watson, also refused to comment on his sentence.

Glenn Martin, a defender of the reform of criminal justice, in a tweet wrote on Friday: “We did it”, above a photo of him and Watson.

“President Trump committed sorrows from Ozy Media and Carlos Watson a few hours before his surrender,” said the tweet.

“@Carloswatson is not going to prison today,” wrote Martin.

“First of all, thank God for his grace, his mercy and the power of redemption. A very special note of appreciation at @alicemariefree,” he added, referring to his colleague defender of the reform of criminal justice Alice Marie Johnson.

“Your advocacy, your compassion and your relentless equity pursuit have made this moment possible for people like Carlos.”

When Watson was convicted, the American lawyer of the Brooklyn era, Breon Peace, said: “Carlos Watson orchestrated a daring plan of several years to defraud investors and lenders to his business, Ozy Media, on tens of millions of dollars.”

The prosecutors said that Watson and his co-conspirators between 2018 and 2021 have frauded investors by distorting Ozy’s financial performance, his current commercial relations and his acquisition prospects, as well as his contractual negotiations.

Ozy suddenly closed in October 2021, after the New York Times reported that the head of the company’s operation, Samir Rao, had usurped the identity of a Youtube executive at a conference call with Goldman Sachs.

The investment bank envisaged an investment of $ 40 million in Ozy at the time.

– CNBC Eamon Javers contributed to this story.